Chapter 21 – Savage Girls
That day, Zhang Shaoyu finally returned to his normal school life. In the morning, however, many students came to sneak a peek at him from the door as if he were some sort of rare animal. Furthermore, the other teachers kept their mouths shut about Mr. X’s burst chrysanthemum the other day, much to Shaoyu’s relief. They must have been silenced somehow.
Still, Zhang Shaoyu daydreamed the whole day away. His mind was elsewhere, thinking about Lizz and the broth she’d make him. Even though he didn’t know what kind of horrid broth would await him at home, he was still excited by the fact she’d cook for him.
The teachers already knew that Zhang Shaoyu was a lazy student. He rarely listened to lectures and the teachers didn’t feel like preaching at him anymore. After all, this was the last semester of the third year. With everyone struggling and studying hard to get into university, the teachers had no time to focus on the hopeless idiot, and ignored him so long as he didn’t disturb the others.
Time pa.s.sed without Shaoyu realizing. It wasn’t until the bell rang Zhang Shaoyu noticed it was noon, and chanted in his mind, “Go home, eat broth. Go home, eat broth.” He immediately packed his bag and bolted out the door.
He didn’t expect to collide with another student just as he stepped out of the door. Nothing much happened to Zhang Shaoyu, but as for the one he collided with at full speed, they fell down majestically and started whimpering painfully on the floor.
It was then Zhang Shaoyu realized the student he’d walked into was a girl. She was rubbing her bottom as she tried to stand up. She was not the extremely cute and bubbly type like Lizz or the cool type like Ho Ying, but with her shoulder length hair, she gave off the feeling of a lively and cheerful girl. She also exuded a somewhat wild aura with her shirt’s long sleeves rolled up, showing two slightly firm arms with a bit of tan. Just one look and people would know that she’s the sporty type of girl.
The girl’s name was Han Ling. She was the representative of the school’s athletic department. While her academic grades were not that good, sports was her strong point. Her specialty was the one hundred meter sprint, and she had won several school compet.i.tions, or received second place, at the very least. The teachers and the princ.i.p.al had high expectations of her.
Everyone knew Han Ling was a rich girl. Her mother was supposedly the director of a company while her father was a low-life. Her home life had turned Han Ling into a misandrist, but it made her popular with the boys, especially those m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic guys.
Han Ling rubbed her bottom while cursing loudly, “Which blind f.u.c.k dares to knock me down?”
Zhang Shaoyu knew he was at fault, and quickly stepped forward and offered her a hand. “Are you okay?”
Han Ling was ready to complain more, but when she saw Zhang Shaoyu’s face, she immediately gasped in surprise, “You’re Zhang Shaoyu?”
Zhang Shaoyu thought, Okay, that Wu-something-dog must have spread my name to the whole school. I’ll have to do something about the situation now first.
With that in mind, Zhang Shaoyu apologized, “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you and knocked you down, are you hurt? Do you want me to pay for the medical expenses?”
Han Ling pat the dust off herself with a smile. “I’m okay. Pay what medical expenses? I came here for to look for you.”
“For me?” For as long as Zhang Shaoyu had lived, no girl had ever wanted anything to do with him aside from Lizz. He easily misunderstood her intentions, and remembering Lizz at home he immediately refused. “Nononono, I have Lizz already, sorry, but I can’t be your boyfriend.” (1)
The boys, who were loitering around, heard, ‘I can’t be your boyfriend,’ and immediately turned their sights toward the two as if they were cameramen who had spotted something interesting.
“Hey! Isn’t that the ace of the athletic department, Han Ling?! I confessed to her eight times without luck!”
“What good is that ‘good guy’ king? Normal look, normal performance, normal economy, normal everything. The only thing abnormal about him is his somersaults! Is it the era of the performers now?”
“Has it come to this? Everyone is going for the ‘good guy’ king? Girls nowadays ignore all the better guys?”
The moment Han Ling heard them, she pushed a guy down and swung angrily. “f.u.c.k ya! Speak more nonsense and I’ll beat ya to death!”
The boys had heard that Han Ling was a misandrist, but they would never have guessed that she would be so ferocious. No wonder no guy was able to ‘tame’ her. The boy who had been pushed to the ground crawled backwards in a fright.
One of the boys suddenly commented, “Oh, so it must be the good guy king who’s getting dumped again?”
Zhang Shaoyu was about to give the boy a piece of his mind and a kick, but Han Ling beat him to it and knocked the boy upside the head. “Shut up! Anymore bulls.h.i.t and I’ll beat the h.e.l.l out of you!”
Seeing the two boys get beaten down, the observers realized that if they made the same mistake, they were doomed to face the same end. And since they were ‘just’ people, they pretended that they saw see nothing and stayed quiet.
Zhang Shaoyu pat the dust off his clothes. The confrontation had put him in a bad mood. “These animals, they won’t learn their lesson unless you give them a beating!”
Han Ling laughed. “I heard that you were one of those typical boys, so I thought you’d be just like them.”
Zhang Shaoyu chuckled and returned with, “I don’t think you’re one of those typical girls.”
Han Ling smiled widely at that. “Are you praising me?” Han Ling was a misandrist, so it made her happy when she heard him say she wasn’t like the other girls.
Zhang Shaoyu scowled, he had wanted to ridicule her, but it seemed to have made her happy instead. The heck, is this girl all brawn with no brain? Didn’t she realize I wasn’t praising her? Or is it just springtime?
But Zhang Shaoyu chose not to dwell on the subject. He wanted to go home and eat his broth, so he told her, “What do you want? Be quick about it, I’ve got something to do. ”
Han Ling also had a blunt personality, so she didn’t mind getting straight to the point and said, “I want you to join the school’s track and field club!”
Without even looking at her, Zhang Shaoyu walked by and said, “Not interested.”
“Wait a sec!!” Han Ling quickly latched onto Zhang Shaoyu and pleaded with him.
“You ran so fast yesterday, I’m sure you’ll have a bright future in the club. Why don’t you take a shot? ”
Zhang Shaoyu began to think. If I join the track and field club, I will have to train like f.u.c.k for one or two hours every day. My time with Lizz is short enough already, how can I let it get even shorter?
With that, Zhang Shaoyu rejected the offer again. “I’m already a third year, we’ll be going to take exams soon. Do you think I have any spare time?”
Han Ling answered, “I’m also a third year, I have time, why don’t you?”
Zhang Shaoyu saw that she wouldn’t be easily swayed, and so he intentionally answered with a snide remark. “If you have time, I have time, doesn’t that mean that since I have a wiener, you have one too?”(2)
This sentence was highly effective; the students around who heard him laughed at once. Han Ling was speechless for a moment after realizing what he meant, before she turned beet red. After all, she was still a girl. “You’re sick! What kind of metaphor is that!”
“Anyways, I don’t have the time, I won’t join!” Zhang Shaoyu once again turned away.
Han Ling quickly called him back. “Just give me a sec!”
Zhang Shaoyu sighed, exasperated. “C’mon, Brother Ling, can’t you let me go?”
Hearing him call her ‘Brother Ling’, Han Ling got angry. No matter how strong she was, how could anyone call her ‘brother’? I’m a D cup for f.u.c.k’s sake!(3)
Suppressing her rage, Han Ling sneered, “Hmph! Don’t you know? The princ.i.p.al is going to kick you out!”
The effect was immediate. Zhang Shaoyu’s body shuddered and he turned around in surprise. “Say what!?”
Seeing his face, Han Ling was satisfied. “Ever since the last time you offended the ‘copy maniac’ (4), he’s been secretly trying to get revenge on you. Since you have a bad reputation and little achievement, he’s done all sorts of things behind the scenes, even using money to convince others to make the princ.i.p.al kick you out. Even though it’s just a rumor, it’s still 90% accurate. It’s over for you now!”
Zhang Shaoyu was enraged by the revelation. “That motherf.u.c.ker! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d dares to stab me from behind!? Good! You f.u.c.ker! I’ll show you what stabbing from behind means! When I see him, I swear I’ll stab his a.s.s again!”(5)
Han Ling laughed. “Actually, there’s a way for you to get a free pa.s.s for the last few months, and I can make it happen.”
“What way?” Zhang Shaoyu immediately asked her. If he were to be expelled and was unable to go to university, he would be beaten to death by his parents. He can’t let that happen!
“Join the track and field club!”
Zhang Shaoyu mocked her, “Hah! What are you talking about? How can joining the track and field club do anything? Don’t talk nonsense.”
Han Ling played with her hair while answering calmly, “I have quite some influence in this school. The princ.i.p.al’s also a friend of my mother and owes her some favors. If I were helping you, the princ.i.p.al might take that into account and maybe let you go.”
Zhang Shaoyu screamed in his mind, Using money is cheating!(6)
Zhang Shaoyu was very reluctant, but he had been backed into a dead end already, what else could he do? After cursing Mr. X a million times in his mind, he reluctantly answered her, “Well, if you can help me with this, I’ll join the track and field club. But I’ll make it clear, ‘kay, I won’t spend too much time training at school.”
Han Ling smiled and answered, “It’s okay, no worries! As long as you have the speed you had yesterday during the tournament, I don’t mind even if you’re not training at all! But you have to come with me today, I’ll introduce you to the other club members.”
Zhang Shaoyu stopped to think for a moment and realized, Wait! If I go right now, I won’t be able to eat Lizz’s broth!? No, that’s not the problem! If I don’t go home and cook lunch, Lizz will be hungry, that’s a sin!
Zhang Shaoyu shook his head repeatedly. “Nonono! I’m really in a hurry today, I’ll do it tomorrow, is that okay?”
Han Ling pondered for a moment. “Okay then, I’ll seal the deal with the princ.i.p.al today. And tomorrow afternoon, I’ll wait for you at the field, don’t be late!” She left him with that.
And so, Zhang Shaoyu, for some reason, ended up in the track and field club.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:
1. GG overconfidence.
2. Slang for man’s proud reproduction organ.
3. LOL!
4. Remember? The one Lizz ‘a.n.a.lyzed’.
5. Somehow this sounds so very wrong.
6. Agreed.